Candles in the Snow
by Alaena F. Dragonstar
Summary: It was Christmas Eve and Kaito was on his way home through the snow when he spotted that familiar cowlick through the café window. Without a second thought, he turned and walked inside.  :KaiShin:


Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK

Genre: Romance

Pairing: KaiShin [KaitoxShinichi]

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><p><strong>Candles in the Snow<strong>

It was a small café known as the _Coffee 'n Cream_. Ever since he'd discovered it back in his last year of high school, Kuroba Kaito had been going there every Friday afternoon. Usually he went with Nakamori Aoko, his best friend since childhood. Sometimes she would bring her boyfriend, which used to annoy him when he'd still had a crush on her, and still annoyed him now even though he'd long gotten over that because the blonde prat was a real stick in the mud. At other times he brought other friends, either just to hang out or to work on school projects. He'd even been there with his father a few times when they were planning a surprise for his mother—and with his mother when they were planning something for his dad.

And sometimes he went by himself because the place had some awesome hot chocolate and you didn't need another reason to go just for that.

He wasn't sure when he'd first noticed the quiet boy who was always sitting at the second table by the window. The first thing that had caught his attention was the funny little bit of hair that stuck up at the back of the stranger's head. He'd been looking at it while Aoko perused the menu and thinking how it was a rather weird hairstyle but he'd seen it a lot lately because that same person was always sitting at that same table every Friday he'd come.

He hadn't thought much of the matter after that. It was shortly after he'd started university and he'd started coming more and more often by himself because Aoko's schedule clashed horribly with his own that he began to wonder about the other boy again. He was always there by himself. In all the times he'd seen the boy, Kaito had never seen him with a friend or even talk to anyone for that matter. He also never ordered anything but coffee. Black coffee, to be exact.

Most of the time he would have a notebook with him, and sometimes there would be folders too. He'd always assumed it was schoolwork, but it didn't really look like normal schoolwork and surely no kind of homework required that amount of concentration. Curious, Kaito decided one spring afternoon to approach the stranger's table.

"Excuse me," he said politely like his father was always telling him he should when meeting strangers (first impressions were important). "Can I sit here?"

The boy looked up from his notebook, cast a quick glance around at the half empty café, then looked back at him with a clearly puzzled expression. He waited a long moment as though he expected Kaito to say he'd been kidding. Kaito, however, just waited patiently.

"If you want…" the stranger said finally, still giving him a rather odd look.

"Thank you." Pulling out the chair opposite, Kaito slid into it and waved at the waitress. Once she left with his order, he turned back to his tablemate. The boy had gone back to writing in his notebook. "Hey, you know, I've seen you here a lot. You come every Friday, right?"

Brilliant, blue eyes rose to meet his gaze again, this time looking suspicious. "I do. Why?"

"I was just curious," Kaito said quickly, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "I mean, I've been coming here every week for a while now and you're always here. So I thought maybe I should introduce myself." He snapped his fingers, making a rose appear in his hand. He usually did the trick for girls, but today he'd make an exception. Everything else he had with him right now was loud and messy and he didn't feel like getting thrown out. "My name is Kuroba Kaito, soon to be the best magician the world has ever seen! But you can just call me Kaito."

That earned him a flat look which was transferred to his hand when he offered the other the rose. It was kind of funny how the stranger was regarding the flower like it might try to bite him. When he didn't take it, Kaito leaned forward and laid it gently down beside the other's coffee mug.

"And you are?" he prompted.

"Kudo Shinichi," the other replied shortly.

Kaito got the distinct impression that the other teen was wishing he would go away, but he'd never been one to be daunted by little things like that. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Shinichi," he said, turning the name over in his mind. It sounded familiar. "Hey, are you a detective by any chance?"

Shinichi nodded, though he frowned at the casual use of his given name.

"Oh, so you're the one the papers started raving about a few years ago! The high school detective." He'd seen the boy's name in the papers several times, but there had never been a picture.

That got him a scowl. "I'm not in high school anymore."

Kaito laughed. "I suppose not."

It was the beginning of a peculiar friendship.

X

When the stranger with the indigo eyes had first approached him, Shinichi hadn't been sure what to think. He remembered seeing the guy a few times before, but he'd never paid any particular attention to him. This was, after all, the place he went when he wanted some peace and quiet but didn't feel like staying at home where the emptiness was beginning to gain weight.

Eight meetings later he _still_ wasn't sure what to think about the cheerful magician. But Kaito was…interesting to talk to. He was more intelligent than any other person Shinichi had ever met, even if he did have a rather skewed sense of humor at times. And he wouldn't go away even on the days when Shinichi didn't really want to talk and tried to get rid of him by ignoring him. As the weeks went on, those times grew less and less frequent, and he found himself beginning to look forward to seeing Kaito. Started hoping to see him every time he was at the café and the bells over the door jingled.

He wasn't sure what to think about that either. He'd never felt this way about anyone before.

On his part Kaito had decided that he really should have said hello sooner.

Coaxing the detective to lower those porcupine spines took some work, but he'd always liked challenges, and he had this feeling that there was someone interesting behind them. He was delighted to find out that his instincts had been right (as usual, if he did say so himself).

The detective was an amusing mix of ridiculously observant and totally oblivious. He knew a lot about some really useless things—although it turned out a lot of that knowledge wasn't quite that useless because, according to Shinichi, people could be killed with it—but very little when it came to everyday things like current popular music or that new TV series _everyone_ (or rather everyone that wasn't Shinichi) was watching. The initial impression of a quiet, rather seriously logical person were totally spoiled by the way he lit up like a Christmas tree at the mere mention of certain books and the two weeks he'd spent sulking after his favorite soccer team lost a match.

And he could actually follow the magician's train of thought, even if he did occasionally tell him that he was weird.

Kaito found himself looking forward to Fridays more than any other day of the week (well, more so than he used to anyway, all considered Friday had always been a good day). He had stopped inviting his classmates to go to the little café with him altogether. He saw them all the time anyway and they weren't half as entertaining to spend time with as Shinichi was.

And every time they met he gave the detective a rose. At first it was just because it was funny to see what Shinichi would do. After the first few weeks Shinichi gave in and started taking the flowers when they were offered to him instead of trying to make them disappear by pretending they weren't there. Then Kaito started to give the roses to him because he'd discovered he liked that faint, pink blush that would creep into Shinichi's face when he did it.

X

It was Christmas Eve and the snow was coming down in a light veil of little white flakes that nonetheless managed to pile up like nobody's business. Kaito had been on his way home from one of his best performances to date when he passed by the _Coffee 'n Cream_ and saw that familiar little cowlick at that same table by the window.

Without a second thought, he turned and walked into the café. The bells above the door jingled softly as he passed beneath them and made his way to Shinichi's table.

"Hey," he greeted as he slid into his customary seat. "What are you doing here?"

Shinichi glanced up at him then down at the papers spread across the table. "I'm working. Isn't it obvious?"

"Yeah, but it's Christmas Eve! Surely that can wait. Don't you want to spend Christmas with your family?"

"Considering my parents both live in America, that would be kind of difficult."

Kaito paused at that. Shinichi had never mentioned his parents before. He supposed now he knew why. He watched as Shinichi went straight back to flipping through the files he'd been reading like it was any other day of the year and not the holiday it was supposed to be.

It just…wasn't right, he thought.

"Shinichi?"

"Hmm?" The detective didn't even look up.

"You can come to my house. I'm going there now. My parents won't mind."

Now Shinichi glanced up, but he only shook his head. "No, I couldn't do that."

"Why not?" Kaito countered.

Shinichi gave him a look like he thought the answer should be obvious then glanced away. "I…don't want to intrude."

"You wouldn't be intruding," Kaito persisted. "I wouldn't be asking otherwise. Besides, my parents have both been saying they want to meet you."

Blue eyes blinked in confusion. "What? Why?"

"Well, I told them I met this great detective, and they said they'd like to meet you." He grinned at the hint of pink that crept into the other's face. And he gave himself a mental pat on the back when Shinichi agreed, looking a little nervous and like he might be regretting saying yes already but happy too beneath it all. No one should be alone on a day like this.

He'd been wanting to introduce Shinichi to his family anyway.

As he'd expected, his parents didn't mind at all.

X

Afterward, he took Shinichi home despite the detective's protests because that was what a gentleman was supposed to do (and because his dad was making 'go' signals at him every time Shinichi's back was turned, but he'd been planning to do it anyway). The car ride was a bit of a long one and they chatted about this and that as the streetlights went by one after another in a never ending stream. Outside the sky had long turned pitch black and the snow had started falling again, but inside it was warm with the heater humming quietly in the background.

When they pulled up outside of Shinichi's house, the detective didn't immediately get out of the car. Instead he fiddled with his seatbelt for a moment before looking up at Kaito with a shy but genuine smile that made the magician stare. "Thank you. I… It was fun."

It had taken him a moment to recollect his thoughts and respond. "No problem."

Then he'd leaned across the little space separating them and kissed Shinichi like he'd been wanting to for what felt like forever. The lips under his were soft and warm and didn't pull away.

When they parted, he could see that blush he loved on the detective's face despite the darkness.

"One of my friends is having a party tomorrow. Would you like to go with me?" he'd asked, partly because he wanted to confirm that Shinichi understood he meant for this to _be_ something and partly to distract himself because what he really wanted to do right then was to pull the detective into his arms and kiss him again (there would be time enough for that another day. Better not to rush things).

He was rewarded by a slow nod as Shinichi smiled.

And all the way home he couldn't stop grinning. If anyone he drove by had been able to see him through the dark, they would probably have thought he was crazy.

**Owari**

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><p><strong>A.N<strong>: Just a little something for Christmas. ^_^ I was going to put it up on the 24th, but I'm going to be too busy so I'm putting it up early. I have a whole horde of relatives coming and still far too much to clean. Anyhow, happy holidays everyone!


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